Meet Mandy Rodgers
We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mandy Rodgers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mandy below.
Mandy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Is your team able to work remotely? If so, how have you made it work? What, if any, have been the pitfalls? What have been the non-obvious benefits?
I am so grateful for the idea of remote working becoming such a normal thing – it makes what I do so much easier now, and has removed the barrier of living in certain cities from the equation. I do think that those just now coming up in their careers, having not had that office experience is tougher. I learned a lot working in an office environment, seeing colleagues every day, overhearing what other people were working on, easily sharing stories – work and personal – on a daily basis. I am not sure how you completely recreate that experience in the same way, remotely, so I see the pros and cons. But for me, it’s all been helpful because I can make my own schedule, work much more efficiently and my office can travel with me wherever I am. It doesn’t matter if I am in my home in Atlanta, a coffee shop in NYC, a hotel in Los Angeles or at an event in Malta (true story!), I can get the work done and be available for my clients, which is the most important part. If you’re available, easy to connect to and delivering on your deadlines, it doesn’t really matter where you are!
Mandy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I always knew I wanted to work in the film/entertainment industry in some way, and when I realized that media/marketing was an option, that was the goal. Living in Los Angeles, I built a fantastic array of experience marketing film, TV, streaming content as well as consumer products, live entertainment and lifestyle brands. The start of my career was as an online publicist, pitching content to anyone online – websites, online publications, blogs, etc., and then that grew to also include what we think of as influencers or content creators now. In 2022, I had recently moved back to my hometown of Atlanta and decided to take my vast entertainment marketing experience to the next level and launch Mandy Kay Marketing (MKM). MKM creates, manages and executes publicity, influencer marketing, grassroots, and partnerships/promotional campaigns on a local and national level as well as offers digital marketing consultancy across the industry. I have fantastic film and TV clients and have also been working on local Atlanta live events and opportunities. Being back on the East Coast, I have been building my NYC presence in the Broadway and live events spaces there as well, which has been incredible. MKM offers clients an unmatched combination of LA/NYC experience with Southeast hometown pride and expertise to the Atlanta market. I am excited to see where my Year 2 continues to take me and how the business evolves. My favorite things are film/TV and live entertainment, and I have the privilege of working on all of those things across the country! I am very proud of surviving and thriving during my first year which consisted of 20 clients and 45 campaigns of various sizes and scopes.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I’ve been working in this business for over a decade, and I am always striving to go above and beyond for my clients and partners. I have tried – and I think I have succeeded! – in making their lives easier and creating amazing campaigns for their products. One thing I have consistently heard back from clients is, “You actually did what you said you were going to do,” which seems very obvious, but I have learned that not everyone follows through on what they promise or sets realistic expectations. I work really hard to achieve our goals but also communicate with my clients if something is not working and we need to change tactics and pivot in any way. I have also been told that being flexible is so important. Each campaign and client is different, and I am always looking out for their best interests. Another important thing I am always trying to do is to stay informed on our industry – both marketing developments and the entertainment industry as a whole. It’s really important to be viewed as an expert in your space and someone that your clients can come to with questions and to get your opinion. I have past clients now working as consultants and other similar positions to me, and I love that so many of them come to me with questions and to get my perspective on what we do. I have an amazing network of fellow entrepreneurs and experienced marketers that I enjoy discussing things with and being a resource for them as we all continue to grow and navigate this world.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Relationships are so important in this business, and especially when you are working to get hired in various capacities. I am very lucky that so many of my clients, I consider genuine friends, and I really enjoy spending time with them! That has grown organically over the years. I love getting to know people and building those relationships, and that piece has been so important for me and my business. I also want to stay visible to them – even when we don’t have a project together. Some people shy away from it, but I believe that social media is so important to maintain visibility and relationships with your clients, vendors, partners and your full network! It comes naturally to me to share what I am working on, but I am always encouraging others to do the same and find the balance that works for them. I have different strategies for how I use various platforms, and I am always trying new types of content pieces and posts to see what I think makes sense and resonates. Depending on your relationship with that client, you have to figure out which level of connection is appropriate and the best way forward, but at the very least, using LinkedIn to showcase your work is so important. I use LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok but in all different ways. I also maintain my website with the latest case studies to quickly send out examples of past projects when touching base with clients. I try to have regular email check-ins with many and sometimes phone or Zoom check-ins as well. Also, when traveling in and out of NYC and LA, I work to schedule coffees, lunches, happy hours with clients as much as possible. I am very lucky that I can choose who I want to spend time with and work with, and I have the absolute best clients, so it makes that part easy and fun!
Contact Info:
Website: https://www.mandykaymarketing.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandykayrodgers/ // https://www.instagram.com/mandykaymarketing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mkr512
Other: TikTok - @mandykrodgers
